Mike talks with cultural critic Dan Schindel and Lyle Zanca of GKIDS to discuss Mamoru Oshii’s 1985 anime film, Angel’s Egg (AKA Tenshi no Tamago), a gorgeous lyrical film about spiritualism and redemption. The film has been recently restored and given a 4K scan that will be screened across the U.S. starting November 19, 2025.
Check local listings and be on the lookout for the upcoming Blu-Ray release.
Released in 1973, Eiichi Yamamoto’s Belladonna of Sadness is the animated story of Jeanne (Aiko Nagayama) and Jean (Katsuyuki Itô), two poor young people in France during the Middle Ages who get married. However, when the Jean can’t pay the local ruler ten cows in tribute for their wedding, the ruler decides to take his payment out of Jeanne via by deflowering her. This sets the tone for the film and our young couple’s relationship.
Special Guest: Jonathan Clements Guest Co-Hosts: El Goro, Chris Cummins
Based on his manga of the same name and released two years before the end of the comic series Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira (1988) tells the tale of Kaneda -- a teenage punk in a motorcycle gang -- and Kei -- a member of an underground resistance -- and their adventures in NeoTokyo. They enter into a world of psychics including the titular Akira, the little boy with incredible powers that lead to the devastating explosion that opens the film.
Special guest Jonathan Clements, author of Anime: A History, provides Mike with some much-needed background on Japanese animation while co-hosts El Goro and Chris Cummins describe their love of Otomo's groundbreaking film.
Special Guests: Lyle Zanca, Dan Schindel
Guest Co-Hosts: 
Special Guest: